[AxelCloris]

CanJam Chicago 2023 kicks off today, and this is the place to share your thoughts and experiences from the show. What were some of your favorite headphones? Sources? Amps? Discover any cool new music? Meet any cool people? Let us know what you've experienced first-hand at CanJam Chicago 2023.

Missed our CanJam Chicago Preview Video? Then check it out here for just a taste of everything you can audition at CanJam Chicago 2023.

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CanJam Chicago 2023 Preview: The best IEMs and headphones at Chicago's largest personal audio show!
Produced by Brian Murphy, Joe Cwik, Warren Chi, and Jude Mansilla​

 

[third_eye]

 

[third_eye]

 

[pbarach]

Never been to a CanJam. How well can you actually hear music when there are so many people in the room with the various headphone setups?

 

[iamoneagain]

Never been to a CanJam. How well can you actually hear music when there are so many people in the room with the various headphone setups?

The key is to get there right when CanJam opens. Otherwise testing open headphones really only gives you a taste of their sound. At least at the SoCal one a few vendors have private rooms so that helps too. You need to get to those rooms early as well as they tend to fill up quickly. But even with the noise, you should get some idea of whether you like the headphones or not.

 

[Phoggy]

Favorite Headphone of the Day - Hifiman HE-1000 Stealth (just a sweet sweet sound, I was absolutely in love with them, even with the guy blasting metal full blast next to me on the Sundara couldn't ruin my zen!)
Surprise Headphone of the Day - Final D8000 Pro (Blew the Stax away that I was comparing them to! I think they are great!)
Biggest Disappointment - Meze Liric (It's a really good sounding headphone, but way too hard to drive for what is advertised)

This was my first CanJam and I am looking forward to tomorrow when I will be listening to the HE-1!

 

[paradoxper]

Dude > Cannibal Corpse, nods. We're definitely friends.

 

[ericpalonen]

Everyone who has come through to listen to the HE 1 has been an absolute joy to talk to...from musical preferences, line of work, passion for sound, other gear to try, where they are from, life stories, etc etc...sort of like a campfire chat but with the glow of tubes instead of an open flame. Rock on Head-Fi!

 

[HiFilife]

I just got back from day 1 of Canjam and overall, had a good time. It did seem like a number of vendors didn't show up. Couldn't locate Linsoul or Meze and a few others.
I have one Hyatt gripe - Why does a hotel with all that convention space have such horrible WiFi? Signal was so-so, but speed was really crap. There's no excuse. My Qobuz would barely load so I switched to mobile network($).

My highlights:
I got to listen to the Sennheiser HE 1 and WOW! These are impressive. Didn't get as much time as I would've liked; they take 3 at a time but only one HE 1 so basically about 10 min each. I heard bits of music in my tracks I swear I didn't know were there, but I generally listen on $1000ish equipment. Definitely an experience worth signing up for (or hovering hoping for a cancellation).
ZMF room, of course, was packed. They really needed a bigger space. I listened to several of their headphones for the first time, and really impressed. This may be a show purchase for me, but I have some questions and they were quite busy. I'll try tomorrow. Looking at Vérité or Atrium. They have ALOT of custom designs and I just want one!
I also got to listen to the new Aria Organic, and this was the first Aria I've heard so can't compare to others, but this may be the one Hifiman to get. I have the Edition XS and not super happy with the fit (apparently I have a tiny head), but the Organic fits fine, as well as sounding better. They only had 2 of these at the Hifiman booth so get in line. I need to listen to this one again.
In the DCA room, I got to listen to the DCA Stealth. I just purchased the Noire a month ago and wanted to compare. The Noire is probably 90% of the Stealth, but man that 10% is sweet. The pads are so soft and this is the most comfortable headphone I've ever worn. ZMF next door is damn close. The sound is incredible and I had to remind myself to get up and let someone else ride the ride. This is now on my list, but down the line. ($$)

So, we'll see what I come home with tomorrow!

 

[Saberpunch]

Fun Times, can’t wait for day 2

Favorite vendor was Spirit Torino. I actually like their new planar headphone centauri. It have a really good tone for acoustic instruments especially with bass drums and drums. Nice bass sound overall with acoustic instruments. Wish I could say the same for the electric guitar, but it was still pretty fun on rock music. Like classical orchestra more on it. I also enjoy the valkyria, but the bass on the drums didn’t hit the same for me compare to the planar one. Still, it also amazing for classical I didn’t enjoy the grey headphone at all (can’t remember the name). That grey headphone was not my cup of tea. Overall, I recommend people to try out the Spirit Torino booth if you haven’t, great headphones.

Other favorite vendor was the Fostex vendor. They had a vinyl setup and Rock Roll me in 2023 .

^Sennheiser HE-1

^DCS Lina Room

^ DCA Vendor

^ZMF room

^ ZMF new Headphone

^ Viva Vendor

^Fostex Vendor

^ Spirit Torino Vendor

 

[Saberpunch]

Fun Times, can’t wait for day 2

Favorite vendor was Spirit Torino. I actually like their new planar headphone centauri. It have a really good tone for acoustic instruments especially with bass drums and drums. Nice bass sound overall with acoustic instruments. Wish I could say the same for the electric guitar, but it was still pretty fun on rock music. Like classical orchestra more on it. I also enjoy the valkyria, but the bass on the drums didn’t hit the same for me compare to the planar one. Still, it also amazing for classical I didn’t enjoy the grey headphone at all (can’t remember the name). That grey headphone was not my cup of tea. Overall, I recommend people to try out the Spirit Torino booth if you haven’t, great headphones.

Other favorite vendor was the Fostex vendor. They had a vinyl setup and Rock Roll me in 2023 .


^Sennheiser HE-1



^DCS Lina Room




^ DCA Vendor










^ZMF room





^ ZMF new Headphone


^ Viva Vendor



^Fostex Vendor







^ Spirit Torino Vendor

Part 2 of Day 1

^Hifiman Vendor

^Sennheiser Vendor

 

[TommehHiFi]

Wasn't a very crowded show so listening conditions weren't too bad. I tried not to spend more than 2-3 songs on any one set up so judging intricacies like soundstage, specific comparatives, and genre specialties was a no go. Was mostly about the overall presentation in this fast paced experience. It also usually takes me weeks of living with a headphone to truly understand it anyways. There were a few times I could hear the person's headphones next to me while I was listening to my own and I listen decently loud. Protect your hearing guys.

I think the DCA Corina is my favorite of the electrostat headphones at the show. No compromises on bass. Surprisingly I'd personally rate it: DCA Corina > Stax L700mk2 > Stax x9000 (on the Grand Cayman?)> Stax SR-009s (I think?) > Audeze Carbon. I'm thinking the open floor plan wasn't optimal for electrostat microdetail/treble but I also usually take warm/dark over bright sound signatures.

ZMF's room is like walking into a candy shop. I already own 3 ZMFs and it's still amazing how much better they look in person, not to mention the variety. I ended up preferring the Atrium Open to the closed version so I'm going to just stick with my open. So instead I got a stabilized set of Calderas since my oak Calderas (w/ mantle mesh installed) get the most use from me at home nowadays of any headphone. I'd say of all of the headphones I tried at the show, the Calderas are still my favorite! Wanna get in some more time with the ZMF prototype portable but it still has that great timbre ZMF are known for. And the lack of noise leak was great so I could see it becoming a workplace/coffee shop work horse. I could see the JDS labs collab amp becoming sought after with the potential for limited wood release versions.

The Elite on the dCS Lina stack is ridiculously smooth. I purposefully put on Grimes as a treble torture test and it passed with flying colors without losing detail. I think I would need weeks with it with some scotch to really appreciate it. Hoping to try out the Susvara on the Rossini DAC tomorrow.

I made the mistake of trying out the Susvara right before the new Arya Organic so I wasn't too impressed by the new headphone. I've never heard the other Aryas to compare to the organic. Personally if I was in the market for a hifiman, I'd get a good deal on the he1000se instead but that's just me. The DAC/amp EF600s they had set up were pretty neat and pleasing to the ear.

Hope everyone gets to enjoy this weather and downtown Chicago this weekend. Crazy you can be face to face with a gorilla at the Lincoln Park Zoo, and then walk a few minutes and put you feet in the sand on the beach with a pina colada (then walk and go get a world class deep dish at Oven Grinder).

 

[LXMc]

Great pics all-round, wish I could be there.

Also all the stabilized ZMFs look incredible as always... but that Auteur Classic really caught my eye. Damn that looks awesome. Wonder if it's the new LTD Ash model Zach mentioned in the CanJam prep video..

 

[Skyediver]

Everyone who has come through to listen to the HE 1 has been an absolute joy to talk to...from musical preferences, line of work, passion for sound, other gear to try, where they are from, life stories, etc etc...sort of like a campfire chat but with the glow of tubes instead of an open flame. Rock on Head-Fi!

THANK YOU for a great experience! Not my first time hearing the HE-1, but it was just as sublime the second go-round.

 

[skeeb23]

Excellent first day of CanJam wrapped up! Everyone has been wonderful to interact with and my wife has enjoyed it as well!

Early...early first impressions have me excited about the new amp from ZMF/JDLabs, Dekoni x Hifiman Cobalt and that monster of a tube amp from Viva audio.

Also thoroughly enjoyed the listening and measurements seminar presented by @jude

More exploring to do tomorrow!